Vodafone set for stormy shareholder meeting

NEWS Vodafone's annual general meeting takes place later today, with two topics likely to cause considerable debate: chief executive Sir Chris Gent's remuneration package, and the role of its auditors, Deloitte and Touche. Gent is in line to receive more than nine million share options and bonus shares worth up to £3.9m on top of a basic salary of £1.2m, making him one of the highest paid executives in the UK. Many shareholders, most notably Pensions Investment Research Consultants (Pirc), have said that the sums are unreasonable and should be rejected at the meeting. However, it is likely the package will be agreed. The other controversial issue is the non-audit fees Vodafone pays to Deloitte and Touche (D&T). Some shareholders - again led by Pirc, which has a history of challenging Vodafone to defend its actions - have called for D&T to be sacked over the level of its non-audit fees. Pirc believes Vodafone could be compromised by D&T's income from consulting work. In the past year, D&T charged the company £4m in audit fees, and received a further £22m for other work, including £18m for the provision of IT, this morning's FT reports. D&T announced in February that it was separating its consulting and auditing divisions in an attempt to establish their independence. That process should be complete by the end of the year. D&T's consultancy will then be known as Braxton. We'll bring you more from the meeting later...